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Thursday, December 27, 2012

I'm super unprepared this year for my trip! I think it didn't register to me how cold it was going to be, and I am flying out tonight! I actually just got my iphone unlocked today as well, so I can use it outside of the US. Didn't know that process would have taken at least a week! So I paid some website more money to do it faster haha. Anyway, luckily I had the foresight to buy these Sorel Shila Suede boots from Ruelala. They arrived last week and I think they will save me big time. They are shearling lined, and the lining is actually removable as well. They are made to withstand up to -40 degrees! So they better keep my toes toasty! Hehe.

I don't like how big the "Sorel" brand name appears on the bottom side of these shoes, but they were only $50 on Ruelala and they were the only pair that had my size so I couldn't really be picky. I like the Sorel boots with fur from Nordstrom, but I don't really want to spend $120 for a pair of snow boots I will not use again.

These are what they look like:

On me:

So they are kind of like extremely warm Uggs with better soles. They feel pretty comfortable to walk in, although I haven't tested them since they are way too hot for LA. I hope that's the case! I got them in size 6.5, which is my normal shoe size and they seem to fit true to size. I think I will wear them without socks or thin socks only because of the existing lining.

Anyway, so this is kind of the last piece of warm weather item that I needed to get for my trip. I can always get some more hats, scarves, gloves, or other small items once I get there.

Ahhh flying out in 4 hours! I should finish packing and get my butt to the airport. Well, I will try to post from China, but I'm not sure how often I'll be able to. But I will be back on January 15th, so I hope you all have a very Happy New Year! Fingers crossed that my body parts won't freeze off while I'm over there! Hehe.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas everyone! I have had a pretty lazy day, chilling and eating. I actually worked out last night though! At like 8 pm too. Ate afterwards, haha. But that made me feel a bit better about binge eating!

It's ironic, that after eating so much I am talking about jeggings lol. I kind of stayed away from jeggings and skinny pants for a long time, except one pair from Kitson when I needed something to wear boots over. But now that it's colder again and I am going to be traveling for the next couple weeks, I figured I needed more than 1 pair so I can rotate. And of course I needed different colors! So, since the Kitson ones are black, I got a pair of white and a pair of dark wash denim jeggings from Abercrombie. I actually really like Abercrombie denim shorts, which I bought a bunch of in the summer. So I figured their jeggings would be pretty nice too, and I was right! I really like them. They are so comfortable, stretchy and fit well. I bought them in size 4, which is a bit looser / not skin tight, and how I like them.

It's kind of weird, because the dark wash pair have fake pockets on the front, but the white ones have real ones. I wish the dark ones had real pockets too! It's very strange, because I keep wanting to put my hands in the pocket or put something little in them and I find out again and again every time that they are not really there! Oh well.

I love white pants, but they are so hard to keep clean. With boots over though, I think I have less to worry about.

I also got these great Stella jeggings from Express, in this beautiful dark olive green color. They are sold out online so I can't link them. They were actually the last pair at the store as well, and they were hiding under a pile of jeggings in a different color. They happened to be my size (size 2)! When I was paying for them, the sales associate couldn't believe I found them in the store either. Here's a picture of me wearing them, but the lighting was too dark so they kind of just look black. :(

Anyway, this is what they look like under better lighting:

So, now I have 4 pairs of jeggings! Should be enough to last during my trip. Of course I've got a bunch of other pants too! Always the over-packer. I need to think hard and cut back big time because my suitcase is already overflowing. Packing is so stressful! Well, I will worry more about that tomorrow when it's no longer Christmas. =)

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Wow it's 2 days till Christmas! Crazy how fast time goes by now. I hope everyone is done with holiday shopping, because I went to the mall early morning yesterday and it was already a mad house! You wouldn't even believe that the economy/unemployment rate is in bad shape, everything was sold out! From these boots I liked at Macy's, to $400 Burberry scarves at Bloomie's. Wtf?! I was trying to get an ipad mini for my dad, and apparently all the Apple stores in the LA area have been sold out of the 16g and 32g wifi only options for like a week. Lucky me though, I snatched one that somebody returned 3 seconds ago, the first one the sales associate had seen in 5 days! So my shopping is done now. Crazy...

I'm a big fan of gift wrapping though. This may sound really weird, but when I was little, I used to make my parents buy me wrapping paper so I could wrap up empty boxes. I soon became the expert at gift wrapping and my family would come to me whenever they needed a present wrapped. I just loved doing it! I kind of also think presentation of a gift is almost more important than the gift itself, so I spend a lot of effort doing this stuff lol. Since I'm so last minute this year though, and did not buy enough wrapping paper/ribbon combinations so my creations aren't all that interesting, but I sort like really like this one because I used an organza flower that I made myself as the center piece:

I do wish I had either a different colored wrapping paper or a different colored organza flower though. White on white doesn't stand out so much. But oh well, what can you do.

I also like this other one because I bought these ribbons that are like ropes, along with this fuzzy ball from the Hallmark store that I think is super cute:

And one last one... I bought this cool damask striped wrapping paper also from the Hallmark store. There is the shiny stripe, and the less shiny one is actually a velvet material. Pretty cool. Bought silver stripey ribbons to go with it, and just hand made the flower real quick (stapled it altogether). It is probably the easiest trick in the book and not inventive at all. But whatevs.

Ok moving on... lol, this week really wasn't good at all as far as eating healthy goes. This time of year, there's just so much food at work! And my boss was in a good mood so he took bought us lunch 2 days in a row. Then I felt like eating a lot in case the apocalypse happened lol. I only got to workout 3 times as well, although each time was such a killer that I could sort of justify not going more often. But I still kind of feel like a fattie right now, sitting here eating chocolate as I type this...

Monday 12/17

What I did: I did an interval workout. I ran 5 one-minute sprints, then did weights, then did 5 more one-minute sprints on inline 12, then did more weights and called it a day. It was pretty tough because I ran really fast. I felt like passing out after each sprint lol.

Tuesday 12/18 - Skipped working out. Only got 4 hours of sleep the night before, so I kind of crashed after work.

Wedneday 12/19

What I did: New Rules of Lifting for Abs program, stage 2 workout A. Except I did 8 one-minute sprints before I started weights. On both flat level and different incline levels. It was pretty intense, I was pretty spent before I even started weights!

I also have a work outfit from Wednesday. I wore my new black Calvin Klein blouse, one that I could not find on their website anymore to write about in the last post. I paired it with my new Express pencial skirt. They had this big commotion at work on Wednesday, with a photographer in all day to shoot for the Wall Street Journal. So I wore a funeral outfit lol.

Thursday 12/20

What I did: A really really tough yoga class. I think I was shaking and sore for days after.

I wore my Cotton On hoodie as to/from, but I took this pic mostly to show these crops worn with rolled up hem, which is black from the reversible side. I like it like that too.

Friday 12/21 - I had high hopes of going to the gym but its always so hard on Fridays after work! Besides, I went to sleep late again on Thursday night and only got 4-5 hours of sleep. So I actually crashed by like 9:30 lol. I do have a work outfit from Friday though! I wore my new Calvin Klein two-tone surplus knit dress.

You probably can't see very well in this photo - black never shows well in photos! But I wore these new Emilio Cavallini argyle sheer tights that are super awesome! I just received them and am seriously obsessed already. They go with everything! And who doesn't love argyle?! They look less obvious in person than the below photo shows. I need to find me another pair ASAP in case something happens to these.

I've been so busy this weekend that I seriously didn't have time to workout. Both yesterday and today I got up super early for appointments and such. I also am leaving for China on Thursday night this coming week, so I started packing too. I went to the mall on Saturday partly also to get a few things for my trip - it will be SUPER cold there, for me especially, who is used to the perfect SoCal weather. So I am kind of in panic mode now with only a few days left and nowhere near ready. I attempted packing and got scared after putting 5 bulkier sweaters/jackets into my luggage and found that they took about half of the space in there. No idea how I'm supposed to fit the rest. Ahhh!!! Anyway, so I foresee another busy week ahead! Better to drink some wine and forget it now lol.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Ok here goes another shopping spree! I went to Calvin Klein with my friend who works for the company, and he gets me 40% off, including sale items. We do this about once a year or so, and naturally each time I take full advantage of it. So I basically bought everything at the store that I liked! Probably spent 4 hours there. The items turned out to be 10-20 dollars a piece, which is such a great deal! I swear I never saw a receipt so long in my life. We bought about $1k worth of stuff, but also a lot of things for others/Christmas presents. But here are some things I bought for myself! I can't even find everything I bought for myself from the Calvin Klein website. I think I got a lot of already 50% off items that have been long gone from the website.

This two-tone surplus knit dress is pretty great. I love the style and the light gray/dark gray combination. The belt it comes with is a velvet-y gray/black leopard print belt. It gives the dress some sass! The material of this dress is super comfy, it's like sweat shirt material. I love that. It drapes well because the material is heavier, and it doesn't wrinkle at all. I'm wearing it right now! I usually wear a size 2 in Calvin Klein, since the brand runs big, but the smallest size the store had was a 4, and it fits so I went with it. This dress was originally $140 but is not on sale for $60. Great deal even without my friend's 40% off in addition! This was the single most expensive item I got.

I also like this color-blocked pencil skirt I got, in white and black. It's also a very comfortable material, but not as thick as the dress, and might wrinkle more. I haven't worn it to work yet so I don't know for sure. But I like the white and black colorblocking with black on the outside. It's very slimming! This one runs larger for sure. I got it in size 0. This one is also on sale for $39 right now.

The second most expensive item I got was this shiny striped roll-up sleeve blouse in black. I like the subtle pin stripe type of lines on this shirt. And the style/color is a no brainer. I don't wear it buttoned all the way up like the model though. I typically leave the top 2 or 3 buttons undone on my dress shirts. This shirt is still $50, on sale from $70. I got it in size XS, it fits.

Next I got these two essential cardigans in black and tan, mostly as something to throw on at work if I get cold. They are very thin and long, with pockets. I love pockets. I seriously wish the two-tone surplus dress I got had pockets too. These cardigans are a great deal right now - only $19, down from $59. So I basically spent nothing on them after my 40% off. But right now online they only have it in yellow left. I got both of these in size S. XS probably would work too but they didn't have that size left.

I also got some more casual stuff, but I think this satin collar 3/4 sleeve polo shirt can serve as both casual and work wear. I really love the color of this top, it's in "light purple", although it looks more like a blue to me. It's a pretty flattering fit because it's long and has a little bit of stretch so it hugs the figure well. This was also on sale for 20 bucks. I had to pick it up. Got it in size S.

Last but not least, I got these super comfy performance lounge pants, also now on sale for $20! They are black velvet material, pretty cute actually. I got them mainly for lounging around in my hotel room for when I go on vacation where it will be super cold! I got these in size XS and they actually fit very well. The legs are a straight leg style fit, and they are not too wide legged. They are about an inch too long for me though, but I could always get them hemmed or just roll them up. Very happy with these.

So I can't find online the other stuff I bought but it's really just a maroon silk blousey type of tank and another black mandarin collar blouse for work. I think I've been treating myself quite a bit this holiday season lol. But I got other people presents too! But it may be time to curb some spending. =)

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

I went kind of crazy shopping at Express and bought a bunch of stuff in the past couple weeks. This post will actually encompass like 3 different transactions to include everything I've bought from there! I got some good deals though, with Black Friday deals and their holiday specials. I could always wear Express stuff for work, so I don't feel too bad splurging once in a while. Recently I've been trying to step it up with my work outfits, because I think image at work does matter. I look at these sad looking hard workers who do a good job and spend long hours at work, but they don't get anywhere because they simply don't look the part. So I'm just going to put in a little bit more effort, and give off a nice image! We'll see what happens.

Anyways, so here are some of my purchases! Brace yourselves for a long post, ladies!

I actually posted a picture of this in my latest Sunday Funday, where the color is a lot more green. It is how it looks in real life, not this baby blue color from the Express website. Kind of misleading - I was hoping for this blue, but the actual color is nice as well so I kept it. Same as the other shirt, I got it in size XS and it still fits loosely.

In the above pic, I also wore my new Zip Back Studio Stretch Pencil Skirt (too bad it's currently sold out online so there's no link). It's such a nice skirt, and I only paid $29 for it! It actually fits exactly like my High-Waist Studio Stretch Pieced Pencil Skirt. But this one is solid black, with a gold zipper in the back that zips all the way. The zipper goes both ways, so you can adjust how high you want the back slit to be. Pretty cool! I got it in my normal Express pencil skirt size - 2. Here's the picture of it on the model:

I also bought another Long Convertible Sleeve Blouse in this beautiful dark red color called Red Lacquer. It's also sold out online currently. I love this color, but the sleeves in this one fits looser than the other two I have even though it's also a size XS. It's strange, but it doesn't matter too much since the sleeves will always be rolled up how I will wear it.

I got this other casual tee also in Red Lacquer. It's such a gorgeous color. It's called Dolman Graphic Tee - Thrill Of It. It's sooooo soft and comfy on, I love the material a lot. It was also on sale for only $14 so I couldn't pass it up. I love wearing it on weekends with jeans. I got this one in size S and it fits loosely, but I wouldn't size down. It fits me like how it fits the model. I wouldn't want it any tighter.

Close up

Another tank I got that is not for work is this Sequin And Lace Stripe Racerback Tank in mist. It was pretty cheap as well at $19, and it is something that can be thrown on quickly to dress up an outfit. I also got this in a size S for a looser fit. It's a pretty long tank, and the back bottom half is lace. I love the colors in this tank.

I got a couple more pairs of Wide Waistband Editor pants, of course! They are the only pants I wear to work, and they are hit or miss. Sometimes you end up with a pair that fits super well, and sometimes not at all. This makes online shopping tough for them, but I typically buy online and return to the store what I don't like. I bought these 2 pairs, both in my regular size of 0.

For some reason, these are super flattering, so I'm very happy with them. And I love the cute button details on the back of the waist. I actually also posted a picture of myself in these in last Sunday Funday:

These are very cute as well. I love light heathered gray color, and have been looking for a pair for a while. So I'm very happy with these.

I actually bought a 3rd pair, the Wide Contrast Waistband Editor Pant in Gray, but these were horrible. I knew they'd be bad as soon as I put them on, so they already went back to the store. The material was yucky and cheap feeling, and the pair I got had one leg slightly longer than the other!

I also bought FOUR sweater dresses! Lol. I love sweater dresses for the cooler months of the year. I love wearing them with tights and boots, or even just heels. And these dresses are pretty awesome. I got the Mesh Sleeve Metallic Sweater Dress, currently sold out online, but I just saw a bunch of them at the store I went to on Sunday. This dress is so cute! I love the mesh sleeves on a sweater dress, and the back has a gold zipper that goes very low. But you don't need to zip/unzip it at all to put the dress on/off. I bought this dress in size XS, since it was the only size left. The sleeves were a bit tight around the upper arm area when I first put it on, but the body fit perfectly well. But after one wear, the sleeves stretched out a bit and it's completely comfortable now!

So I first bought this black one, liked it a lot, and went back to the store on Sunday and got another one in this beautiful wine color. I think I'm obsessed with this wine color right now. It looks so good! But this one is actually a slightly metallic material. It's very subtle, but very cool. I also got it in a size XS since it was the only size the store had left as well. But this one had a looser fitting arm to begin with so it was never too tight. It might even fit better than the black one! Mesh Sleeve Metallic Sweater Dress:

And then I bought 2 Ruched Sweater Dresses, one in royal purple, and one in aquarium. Both colors are gorgeous! I at first bought the purple one online, in a size S. It fits loosely. So when I was at the store, I tried on the aquarium one in size XS and it was a perfect fit! I wish I hadn't taken off the tags from the purple one and worn it already, otherwise I'd exchange it for a size XS. But oh well, it fits fine. I posted a picture of myself in it from last week as well.

And this is the picture of it on me:

And here is the aquarium one. It's a very pretty blue.

So I totally ordered a bunch of stuff and was hoping that I'd be able to return some of them and not spend so much money! But I fell in love with each so there was no way I'd return any of these, other than the pair of ill-fitting Editor pants mentioned above. But I did order 2 sweaters that were not quite as nice. They are the Slub V-Neck sweaters. The material is nice in these sweaters, because they are thin and kind of see-through. Almost like a burn-out type of material which I love. They were also pretty comfortable on. But I ordered size S in them and the arms looked very loose and boxy. Made me look very wide. I'm not sure if I should have tried on a size XS in them, but I returned them. I do really like the two colors I got in them though, Jamaican Blue, and Warm Stone.

That's some pretty good odds... only a few "No"s out of a bunch of "Yes"s. So I'm pretty happy! Overall I spent something like $320 for all these things I'm keeping. I'd say that's a pretty sweet deal!